The present invention relates to portable disposable basin apparatus including at least two sinks and a collapsible wheeled transport having particular utility in a hospital.
Many times a day, hospital staff members are required to move basins of liquid throughout the hospital, for example, water for bathing the patient. This may require hand carrying the basin through a long hallway or between floors of a hospital. The travel time in elevators and down hallways between the area in which one would fill the basin and the patient's room, or the location where the basin will be used, may be enough time for the temperature of the liquid to change. For example, heated water for bathing the patient would cool in a short period of time in an uninsulated basin. The situations described herein illustrate typical situations hospital attendants are confronted with daily.
A crisis is a routine event in a hospital and can occur anywhere, in a hallway, or in the patient's room. Should a crisis occur in the hallway, it may mean large and bulky equipment must be moved into the hallway, electrical cords may extend across the hallway, numerous hospital staff members may be crowding in the crisis area or rushing to the crisis. Whether in the hallway or in the patient's room, the crisis situation creates many obstacles to one who must carry a basin filled with a liquid (hot or cold) through the obstructed area to another location in the hospital or to the patient in crisis. If a nurse, for example, must struggle with a full basin in a crisis situation, loss of liquid can result from spilling which can thereby create a dangerous situation.
Day to day care of a patient can require numerous trips by a hospital attendant with basins of liquids. Toting a filled basin can be a physically tiring chore, which can lead to inefficiency. Not only is a filled basin heavy and cumbersome, but it is difficult maintaining liquids at a desired temperature during travel through the hospital.
Not only in a hospital setting is it necessary to transport a basin of liquids but also in emergencies for which an ambulance is required. Treatment in many emergencies outside the hospital often includes cleansing a patient.
Additionally, hospital attendants are daily faced with the problem of storing materials, utensils, and equipment in the crowded conditions of a hospital.